Last week I got an email from a blog reader named Heather who asked: For many years I have wanted to start my own craft business (specifically sewn goods), however as I have been thinking through what goes into producing each item I’ve come to the conclusion that purchasing fabric wholesale would be the only…

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Sarah, Me, Rachel and Lou in the fall of 2004. When I was teaching sixth grade at Brown Middle School in Newton, Massachusetts, I was part of a team of four teachers. Sarah taught math, I taught social studies, Rachel taught science, and Lou was the English teacher. Sarah, Rachel, and I became fast friends….

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What is it about a post that makes people want to share? That’s a question I thought a lot about last week as I watched two yarn shops go viral. On Tuesday, January 24, four days after the Women’s March, Elizabeth Poe, owner of The Joy of Knitting in Franklin, Tennessee, posted the following message…

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Sunnyside Diamond Zigzag quilt pattern by Better Off Thread for the Moda Bake Shop. Cutting quilting cotton into squares or strips is one of the most time consuming parts of making a quilt. In 2006, Moda, the Dallas, Texas based fabric company, began selling fabric bundles that were precut, making it easier for consumers to…

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Almost a year ago I spoke at Midwest Craft Con and from the stage I asked by a show of hands how many of the 200 or so people in the audience had a day job in addition to their craft business. From where I stood it looked like nearly every hand in the room…

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2016 is drawing to a close and it’s time to review the year. I thought I’d take a look at what happened in my own business and what I saw as significant in the home sewing and quilting industries. Although I’ve written this blog for 11.5 years now, I only began writing year in review…

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Language is important. The words we use to describe ourselves end up defining us. Last week I saw these photos taken at International Quilt Festival in Houston. Photos courtesy Bill Volckening. I was struck by the function of the word “husband” to describe the lounge and reached out to Bob Ruggiero, Director of Publications &…

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Last spring I got an email from the editorial director at Fons & Porter. It said: I’m about to start the curation of craft business articles for the next edition of Crafter’s Market and wanted to reach out with a unique proposition. As I began to brainstorm new article ideas and potential contributors, I had…

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I was recently out with a friend and she pulled out her phone to show me something. When I glanced at the screen I noticed that her email app had the number 2,560 glowing in a little red circle. That would drive me crazy. I’m devoted to getting to inbox zero at the end of…

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I started selling my work online in July of 2005. Etsy was brand new and I opened a shop as soon as I heard about it. In those early days Etsy was a lot clunkier than it is today – creating a new listing required entering information on five different pages – but it was…